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76ers get No. 1 pick from Celtics, chance to draft UW’s Fultz

The thinking behind the trade, largely, is that the player the Sixers mosts covets in this year’s draft – point guard Markelle Fultz, would not be available by pick 3, whereas the players the Celtics are circling – forward Josh Jackson and forward Jayson Tatum – nearly certainly will still be available at pick 3.But the Sixers undoubtedly view their successful trade with the Celtics in which the Sixers have nabbed the No. 1 overall pick from Boston, as their biggest one yet.The move also dispatches LA’s starting point guard, clearing the way for the Lakers to select UCLA’s Lonzo Ball second overall on Thursday night.76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said the trade “puts us in the enviable position of selecting first overall in consecutive draft years”.The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2018 first-round pick (which the Sixers now own the rights to) if it ends up being pick 2, 3, 4, or 5 overall. However, if one of those picks turns out to be the first pick, the Celtics will receive the other one.So if I was Ainge Butler would be target number one and I’d be working to do anything to move him to the Celtics. That is a hard judgment to make, though, given how rarely the Celtics have picked in the top 10 during Ainge’s tenure. “We felt the value of adding the one pick now was the right thing at the expense of only losing one of four going forward”. If you had to grade out this trade, you’d say that both teams are getting what they want, but you’d have to say that it favors the Sixers at least slightly, considering we at least know what they’re getting out of it (Markelle Fultz). It is, though, another step in the process, and came at the right price. The Bulls would likely be interested in numerous Celtics’ assets including the team’s No.3 pick this year, the Nets’ first round pick next year, the Lakers’ first round pick next year, and a few players from the team’s core (Brown/Crowder/Marcus Smart/Avery Bradley). Even if Anthony would okay the deal, matching the contract with the capped out Cavs is a challenge, possibly requiring a third team. Will they draft a touted player like D’eaaron Fox or Josh Jackson instead? He traveled from Maryland to work out for the team on Saturday night as trade talks heated up. Philadelphia owns the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2018 pick and the Sacramento Kings’ 2019 pick. Theyre getting the player they want,  said Ainge, the Celtics president of basketball operations.The Celtics will receive the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2018 first-rounder if it falls between Nos.Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals over 25 games last season for a Washington Huskies team that was 9-22.I see Simmons maybe playing a point-forward role, taking control when Fultz is off the ball.Philadelphia has an extremely talented young core with Fultz, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dari Saric and others.But Forsberg also says the Celtics don’t have to trade any of the picks for players like Butler or George now.